Yamato
This is the Yamato Ovan of Sword Art Online: Clashing Blades. For the new version in Sword Art Online: Blade Master, see Yamato Ovan. Yamato is an alpha tester for Sword Art Online, and is the main protagonist of Sword Art Online: Last Light, and an antagonist/deuteragonist of Sword Art Online: Clashing Blades. He also appears in Before the Fire. Appearance Yamato wears a black longsleeve undershirt with black pants and dark brown padded boots that reach up to his knees for leg protection. He wears two black fingerless gloves and a long white haiori with black edge and trim. Background It was revealed by Kirei Kyosho that Yamato was his student at his school of kenjutsu, training alongside Sakura as well as Shun Kazeriya and Galant, and that Yamato was his best student. Yamato often trained either alone or directly with Kyosho, due to his tendency of seriously hurting those he trains with. He always trained with Kyosho using real katanas instead of bokken. It was revealed that Yamato killed both his parents with his family's katana, Amaterasu, one night before he met Kyosho. The circumstances are unknown to everyone but Yamato, Sakura, Takeo, and Kyosho, who took him in after the incident. Yamato also trained with Kirei for a time after they were trapped in a game, but eventually left to be on his own. Personality Yamato is known to be quiet, reserved, and distant towards others, preferring to not speak unless something need be said. He can come off as cold and uncaring of others, and this disposition is not entirely false. By nature he does not care much for others that he does not know, and only shows any kind of friendliness towards either his friend or people he respects. Although relishing in a good fight, Yamato isn't a Player Killer who goes out of his way to defeat other players. He fights players who he sees as worthy adversaries, and will challenge said player to a fight (the exception being Ishi, whom Yamato attacked without warning). Yamato's unpredictable nature and PKing tendencies leads him to work completely alone, wandering aimlessly around the world of Sword Art Online. A side of Yamato only known to few is a kind and friendly personality, with a strong sense of loyalty to his allies. He has a strong sense of duty, knowing and willing to do what needs to be done for the greater good. He has been noted as caring only about fighting in and of itself and not much else within it. Yamato has always seemed to have a calm and level headed personality even when he was young, usually isolating himself from others and preferring not to have many friends other than Sakura or Takeo, as well as displaying a level of maturity beyond his age. He is shown to be quiet and reserved, a trait he carries with him into adulthood. Yamato has a repressed darker side to his personality that stemmed from the night he killed his parents, which sometimes manifests in him seriously injuring others, sometimes during training, as when he broke Shun's arm. This is usually kept in check by Kirei, but can sometimes break out unexpectedly and can lead to others being hurt and even almost killed, especially if Yamato is wielding an actual blade at the time. Yamato seems to be fully aware of what he has become during the events of Sword Art Online, claiming that the reason people fear him is not just because of his abilities to kill, but because he has carefully measured the value of life itself and is able to kill anyway. To that end he has claimed that he is "irredeemable", not only because of what he is, but because he does not want redemption, claiming he does not need it nor deserve it. He's even gone so far as to say that he enjoys killing, and that on the night he killed his parents he realized that "was a killer too. And a good one at that". Yamato's outlook on himself and the world comes to change drastically during his struggle against Majora and Skeith. He turns to actively seek redemption for what he's become and for the things he has done, believing that no matter the person, if they truly wish for it, and if they truly work for it, they can be forgiven. Eventually, Yamato finds his redemption in Ishi Haseo, who he personally guides through his journey in order to become strong enough to wield both Skeith and Corbenik together in the form of Akasha, as well as to put an end to his own life so that Ishi can go on to break the cycle of death and destruction to save Aincrad. Relationships Ishi Yamato holds Ishi in high regard, noting his combat skill as the best he's seen of any other player in Sword Art Online. He sees Ishi as the only one who has a chance in being able to defeat him, and secretly guides him to become stronger and stronger until he's ready to take him head on in a full fight. He is willing to sacrifice himself to Ishi in order for him to become strong enough to wield Akasha and end the cycle of destruction Skeith and Corbenik brings. Like Galant, Yamato saw Ishi as someone he failed to be, and wanted Ishi to continue living for the future, and to never give up on himself or the world as he had, willing to give his own life to that end. He sees Ishi as his atonement; his final legacy to give to the world to redeem the things he has done. Sakura ' Sakura and Yamato were both childhood friends, and had known each other from a young age, since after Kirei took Yamato in after he had killed his parents. The two became friends and supported each other throughout their childhoods. Eventually, the two fell in love with each other while in SAO. It was never taken to a full relationship however, because Yamato wished to protect Sakura from everything he had to face in the future, leading to him leaving her and Sakura retreating to live with her grandfather and brother for the rest of the game. 'Majora Yamato's closest friend turned greatest enemy, Majora betrayed Yamato to the Guardians of Darkness for his own benefit, expecting Yamato to die at their hands so he would not be held back by Yamato's superior skills any longer. Yamato survived, and had since swore to hunt down and kill his former friend. Kamui Yamato has had a few run-ins with Kamui during the latter's hunt for Skeith, with each encounter leading to a battle between the two. Yamato and Kamui proved to be evenly matched with each other for a time, but in the end, Yamato was able to prove himself as the better swordsman. Kamui curses Yamato to this day. 'Kirei Kyosho ' Kirei Kyosho is Yamato's sensei in his school of kenjutsu, and has a great deal of respect towards his master, more so than many others. The two are inseperable as master and student, and Yamato looks up to Kirei as a father figure after his parents. 'Galant ' Yamato shows some level of disdain towards Galant, and doesn't view him in the warmest regards. He sees Galant's disrespect towards the customs of kenjutsu as dishonorable to the dojo they both train in, and sees Galant as unworthy of Kirei's teachings. Yamato developed a newfound respect for Galant shortly before SAO, after his final match between himself and Galant and Shun together. He found that he and Galant had one thing in common: caring about their friends. Before his final battle with Ishi and his death, Yamato recognized Galant as being stronger than him after all, since, though Yamato was superior in skill and ability, he had long ago given up on himself and the world, while Galant refused to do so. In the end, he recognized Galant as someone who he ultimately failed to be, stating that "maybe in another life, he could've become as strong as him. But not this life." 'Shun Kazeriya ' Yamato shows more respect towards Shun than he does Galant, but often disapproves of his actions and words. Yamato disapproves of Shun's impulsiveness as well as his arrogance, but recognizes the fact that he shows potential, and that he stood the best chance in one day defeating him. Shortly before SAO, Yamato gained newfound respect for him after his last match between himself and Shun and Galant together. Abilities Sword Art Online Yamato is an unmatched swordsman, having mastered the use of his personal katana, Kusanagi, developing his own personal fighting style named Dark Slayer. His strikes are quick, precise, and almost always lethal, having such prowess in his art that he can make it appear as though he hadn't unsheathed his sword at all. His swift and graceful combat style is renown across SAO as an unbeatable technique, as near all who has fought against it are now dead. He is able to use an ability known as Judgement Cut to cut through enemies at range with extremely powerful and deadly slashes. Taking his katana in hand, he unsheathes his sword at blinding speed multiple times to cut into enemies at range, causing exponential damage. Yamato has one of the quickest reaction times in SAO, to the point where it could almost be considered clairvoyant, and was originally chosen to recieve the Dual Blades skill. This was eventually dropped when Yamato acquired Corbenik, at this point being deemed too dangerous to recieve such a skill. Yamato also possesses the quickest sword hand of all players in Sword Art Online, having such speed with his blade that most of the time his sword is rarely seen at all in combat. He is so quick, in fact, that any damage caused by his blade generally doesn't become apparent until his sword in resheathed. Real Life Yamato was trained in the Kyosho Style Traditional Martial Art by Kirei since an early age, and quickly proved himself to be a naturally talented swordsman. He would frequently train with his master only as any other members of Kirei's dojo could not match his skill in the art. The one person who came closest to his skill level was Shun Kazeriya, who was Yamato's main rival at the time. With Shun and Galant taking Yamato on at once, the battle resulted in a tie. Yamato became a master of the Kyosho Style Traditional Martial Art, becoming the youngest ever to achieve the honor, earning the title shortly before SAO. He heavily incorporates this style into his signature Dark Slayer. Skills Trivia *The name Yamato Ovan is based on the sword Yamato wielded by Vergil, featured in the Devil May Cry series, while Ovan is derived from the character Ovan, a player of The World R:2 and the opposite of Haseo, who shares his name with Ishi's surname. *The Judgement Cut ability is based on the skill of the same name used by Vergil with Yamato. *Yamato's signature style, Dark Slayer, is based on the Dark Slayer Style used by Vergil in Devil May Cry 3, and Dante in Devil May Cry 4. *Yamato's cold demeanor falls apart somewhat when he's around cats. Category:Character Category:Player Category:SAO Player Category:Unique Skill User Category:Ishimura Elite Category:Alpha Tester Category:Antagonist Category:Protagonist Category:Male Category:Player Killer Category:PK Killer